The Boy with the Pan Flute
by NinjaMonkeyGirl2014
Summary: "Beneath all that power, you're nothing more than an unloved, lonely lost boy!" ... "And what did you do? You forgot about me." "I never forgot about you! Why do you think I call myself Peter Pan?" ... "He may look like a boy, but he's a bloody demon." ... So, how did he become like this? Was he ever human? Well, the answers lie within a lost little boy and a pan flute. Major AU.
1. Prologue

**Monkey: So there seems to be a _small_ amount of disappointment with the reveal of Peter Pan's identity . . .**

**(outside in the OUAT fandom, there are riots and mobs made up of hundreds of fangirls who are outraged at the revelation)**

**Monkey: . . . so I decided to write my version of his backstory! I'm considering this an AU since the canon is technically . . . well, if you haven't seen the episode, then I won't spoil it. Let's just say, that riot outside isn't going away any time soon. Leo! Take it away!**

**Leo: Monkey doesn't own Once Upon a Time, or us . . . so, what do you own?**

**Monkey: The idea? The dialogue? I don't even know anymore.**

**Nico: Well, review, then.**

**Monkey: No! Be more enthusiastic. Like Leo.**

**Leo: *takes a deep breath* _REVIEW!_**

**Monkey: Exactly.**

* * *

The boy curled himself in a ball, his knees to his chest, and his hands clutched to his ears, trying desperately to drown out the seemingly endless screams. The doctor had said everything was going to be fine, but it didn't feel like it. He silently prayed to every god and goddess he could think of until there was another ear-shattering scream. Tears threatened to spill, but he held them back, squeezing his eyes shut. It was so painful and it seemed to last forever, but finally it ended when the cries of a baby could be heard.

He released his grip on his ears and saw his father coming out of the room, grinning like a mad man. He looked extremely tired and worn out with specks of blood on his clothes, but his eyes were glowing. With what, the boy didn't know. He gestured for the boy to go into the room, which he did without hesitation. The doctor held a small, bright red baby in his arms. There was a lot of blood, a traumatizing amount, but he managed to ignore that and focus on his new baby brother.

"James, dear . . ." his mother said weakly. He looked over at her and saw how tired she was. Sweat coated her skin and her eyes held this exhaustion that he'd never seen before, but she too was glowing.

"Yes, Mama?" he replied.

"How would you like to give your little brother his first bath?"

He nodded speechlessly, the words unable to come to him. The doctor gave him instructions on how to do it properly and the baby continued to wail. When he asked why the baby was still crying, the doctor said that it meant he was healthy. When he was done, he brought the baby to his mother.

"What's his name?" he asked.

"R . . . Rumplestiltskin," she replied. "After my grandfather."

"That's a funny name."

She chuckled weakly and said, "He was a funny man."

James handed little Rumple to his mother, who held him with a smile. She looked so happy and blissful; it was hard not to smile. She whispered something to the baby that James couldn't hear, then motioned for the doctor to take the baby. She looked to James and said, "You'll be a good brother, right?"

"Of course! I'll teach him how to read and write and all sorts of different games that you and father taught me," he replied energetically, holding onto her hand.

"Good," she sighed. "I want you to be a good brother to Rumplestiltskin. He will need you."

"I will."

"I love you, James." She closed her eyes and tightened her grip on James' hand.

"I-I love you too, Mama, but I don't understand. Why . . .?"

Before he could continue, her hand went slack and she didn't move again. James gently shook her shoulder and said, "Mama? What's wrong? Mama?"

His father went inside and saw what was happening. The doctor checked over his mother, only to find that she wasn't breathing. The father scooped up James into his arms and tried to carry him out of the room, but the boy thrashed about, refusing to leave his mother's side.

"_MAMA!_"

* * *

**Monkey: And that was the prologue! Hope you guys liked it! And if you are writing any sort of Peter Pan fan fiction and you happen to not have any ideas for his revamped backstory (because you don't like the canonical one) then feel free to use this! Just, give me credit, of course.**

**Notes of the chapter:**

**1) Yes, in this story, Peter's pre-Neverland name is James. I decided to give him that name because it's a nod at the writer to the original Peter Pan play, James Mathew Barrie, or JM Barrie.**

**2) I don't know what actually happened to Rumple's mom, it was never said in the show, so I assume she's dead. I'm pretty sure she is. Or she left Malcolm.**

**Monkey: Hope you liked and don't forget to leave a review in the pretty box below!**


	2. Chapter 1 Felix

**Monkey: I just realized that there's already a James in the show. Well, there's already another Peter! I think we can survive with two of each. Now to the review replies!**

**skylark:** Thanks! And of course I'm going to be writing more. What kind of a writer would I be if I didn't?

**AlexandreaLily107:** When you say a lot of thought went into this, do you mean a bunch of ideas I got in the middle of class that I strung together into a somewhat cohenrent story? If so, then you are spot on!

**Dreamer-Girl96: **There, there *hands tissue* it'll be okay.

**Monkey: Of course, I don't own OUAT. So don't forget to REVIEW!**

* * *

A lot can happen in just one year. Like, having to leave your home village because your father spent all his time and money at the tavern to get wasted and gamble. Then come home just to yell at your brother, but not actually _do_ anything.

This was the life James lived after the death of his mother. His father, Malcolm, spent all of their money drinking and gambling at the tavern to try and forget the pain. He'd constantly yell at him and Rumple that it was their fault that their mother had died, even though all they did was merely exist. But he'd never hit them. He'd raise a hand every now and then, but he'd never do anything. Sometimes, James wished that Malcolm would hit him. Just once. At least then, he'd know that he wasn't a coward. But, he never did.

It was hard on James too. Every night, he'd have nightmares of reaching out to his mother, only to have her slip away. Part of him wanted to blame Rumplestiltskin for being born or even his deadbeat father for not taking care of her. But he didn't. Because that's what his _father_ would do. Because that's what he did.

Instead, he took care of Rumple, like how his mother wanted him to. There were some nice ladies in the village who taught him how to take care of a baby. It was difficult, and at times he wanted to give up. But seeing Rumple's bright smile and innocent eyes kept him going.

One night, Malcolm came home, but not in the expected manner. Someone had started banging on the door, so James ran down to open it before Rumplestiltskin woke up.

He opened the door and said, "Yes? Can I help you?"

Two men were holding Malcolm by the arms, practically dragging him. His head lolled around, but he seemed conscious, which only meant that he was drunk. The men looked to James. One of them looked like the tavern owner.

"Is this your father, boy?" he asked.

"Did he do something?" James replied.

"He conned all of my customers out of their money. He needs to pay them back."

All James could do was stare at his father, half-conscious and still being held by the two men. He looked at James and tried to say something, but it just came out as half-spurted jibberish. James looked back to the men and moved aside, allowing the two of them to go in. He ran into Malcolm's room where the money was kept and grabbed all the bags hidden in different spots. It took him a couple trips, but he got every last coin.

Once the two men got all their money back, they tossed Malcolm down and apologized for disturbing the evening. When they left, James just glared at his father.

"Why?" he asked. It was calm, but cold at the same time. "Why did you waste all our money? We need that to get food and take care of Rumple."

He didn't answer. So James grabbed Malcolm by the hair and pulled his head up and said, "Why?! Don't you have an answer?!"

He still didn't reply, so James let go. He too didn't say anything and just went upstairs to his room. The next day, they had to pack their things and leave. It was obvious no one would offer Malcolm a job, so they couldn't earn money to pay for food and necessities. So, they left. The road was harsh, but there were some people who took pity on them and would pick them up with wagons until they finally arrived in a new town.

It was much bigger and noisier than their old village, but the people were fairly kind and amicable. It took a while to earn enough money to buy a house, but it was worth it in the end. It was small, so he and Rumple had to share a room. That was probably best since he could just walk a few steps to calm him down at night instead of running up the stairs and down the hall to get to him. And Malcolm slept on the other side of the house, so at least James didn't have to see the mess he had to call his father. Often, at least.

But they still needed money. His father got a job at the local tavern as an entertainer. So now he could gamble, drink, _and_ con people out of their money all at once. Whatever Malcolm brought back was rarely enough to afford just one loaf of bread, the rest was most likely spent on drinking. They needed help. They needed their mother.

But they didn't have her. So, James decided to try to get a job himself. He told that to the nice lady next door, Mrs. Douglas, about his plans to get a job. She just gave him a sad smile.

"I'm not sure if you can, James," she said. "Most places won't hire a child with little to no experience."

"I'll convince them! We need the money really, really badly," James retorted.

"Well . . . I do have a friend who runs a nearby restaurant. Perhaps he could give you a job. I'll talk to him for you."

James brightened, "Really?!"

She nodded and he hugged her legs, exclaiming "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!" Mrs. Douglas chuckled at the boy's enthusiasm. She found him quite adorable and she had to admire his determination.

Later that day, Mrs. Douglas paid a visit to the restaurant. Her friend was kind enough to hear the tale and agree to hire James as a bus boy. It didn't pay a lot, but James was overjoyed at the news. She agreed to look after Rumpelstiltskin while James was at work.

The next day, he went in for his first day at work. He yawned as he walked. It was quite early and he had gotten very little sleep from Rumple's crying. Somehow, he managed to get there in one piece. Inside, it was pretty empty except for one man, bringing down the chairs from the tables, leaving the stools around the tables outside.

"Hello," he said when he finally saw the boy. "You must be James."

He nodded, "That's me. What do you want me to do?"

"For now, help me take down the stools? I can handle the chairs."

"Yes, sir!"

The man chuckled, "No need for formalities. Just call me Emile."

Throughout the morning, James and Emile pulled the chairs and stools down. It wasn't much, but he was grateful to be able to do something. Eventually, it was time to open up the restaurant. Emile told James to just get the dirty plates from empty tables. The day went by pretty quickly until something happened during the dinner rush.

While James was taking some dishes to the kitchen, he saw a boy rummaging through the boxes of fruit. He was fairly tall and looked about a year older than James. He had dirty blonde hair. Literally, it had soot and dirt in it. His clothes were ratty and had holes in them. His arms were full of loaves of bread and fruits of all sorts and his eyes were wild, almost like an animal's.

For a moment, neither of the boys moved. They just looked at each other until James finally said, "Why are you stealing food?"

The boy scrunched his face into a sneer, "None of your business!"

"Hey, it was just a question." He put the dishes down at a nearby sink and looked back to the boy. "What's your name?"

"Felix."

"Nice to meet you, Felix. Why don't we play a game?"

"A game? Why?"

"Well . . ." He plucked an apple out of a box and tossed it around in his hands. "I want to make a deal. If I win, then you have to explain why you're stealing from the restaurant. Depend on the answer, I may or may not report you. But if you win, I'll pretend I never saw you. Okay?"

Felix thought about this for a minute and replied, "Fine. What's the game?"

James smirked and said, "It's a finding game. It's rather simple. I'm going to hide this apple somewhere in the kitchen. You have twenty minutes to find it."

"That's it?"

"That's it. I did say it was simple."

"Okay, then."

"Great! Just close your eyes and turn around and I'll hide the apple."

"How do I know you won't just leave and report me?"

James sighed and went to the door and locked it with the nearby key. Then he grabbed a nearby stool and used it to climb up to the hook at the very top of the door and hung the key from there, some place unreachable unless he had help. Then he climbed back down, put the stool back where it was, and looked to Felix again.

"Good?" he asked. Felix nodded, satisfied. "Then turn around and cover your eyes."

A bit reluctantly, Felix did so. Then he asked, "How long will you have to hide the apple?"

"Five minutes," he replied. "Starting now."

He walked around the entire kitchen, even though he already knew the spot to put the apple. When the five minutes ran up, he went back to Felix and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to face James.

"It's hidden. You have twenty minutes," James instructed.

Without another word, Felix started to look around. James sat down at the stool and watched him wander aimlessly, searching for the apple. He even patted James down, only to find nothing. Eventually, twenty minutes passed and Felix came back and sighed.

"I lost, didn't I?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, yeah," James replied.

"Where was the apple anyway?"

James went to the box filled with apples and pointed inside, "In here."

"Wow . . . clever."

"Thanks. So, why were you stealing from the kitchen anyway?" He plucked two apples from the box and tossed one to Felix. Then he started munching on his own apple.

Felix took a big bite out of the apple. After he swallowed, he replied, "I have five little brothers. Our parents died a few years ago. I don't steal money or anything valuable, just food. Enough to feed us for a couple days until we can get to the next town."

"Where are you trying to go?"

"Anywhere that'll take us. I'm just trying to help them survive."

"And I'm going to call that a lie. You were just stealing for yourself, weren't you?"

"Okay, yeah. But my parents really did die and I do live on the streets."

"Well, that sucks."

"Indeed."

The two boys sat there, eating their apples in silence for a long while. Neither of them said anything, but the silence was enough. "So," Felix eventually said. "Are you still going to report me?"

"No. I don't really see a reason to," James replied. He picked up some of the food Felix had gotten and handed them back to him. "Just don't steal from here again."

"Or you'll report me?"

"Or someone else may catch you and you may not be so lucky."

"Okay, got it." He went to the window and climbed up to it. "Maybe I'll see you some other time."

"Maybe," James replied.

"See you." Without waiting for a reply, he jumped out of the window.

Over the next few months, James worked at the restaurant and nearly every day, Felix came by to visit. He couldn't let him have _all_ the food, but he did give Felix an apple or bread. Whenever he was on break, the two would play games and tell stories. Felix always told the story of a place called Neverland. A place where children could go in their sleep to escape reality. Where anything could happen, even being able to fly. The more he heard about it, the more James wanted to go.

He never expected it to be real.

* * *

**Monkey: Does that count as a cliffhanger? I don't think so. But I hope the chapters will be long and I'm hoping to post them up quickly. Not sure if I can do it daily, though. I'll do my best! So click on the little review box down there to leave me your thoughts on the chapter! Hope you liked the chapter, bai!**


	3. Chapter 2 Neverland

**Monkey: My advice to you, readers: DO NOT WATCH THE PREVIOUS EPISODES OF SEASON 3 AFTER WATCHING "THINK LOVELY THOUGHTS". You will regret it.**

**Nico: Why?**

**Monkey: Well, since I'm writing this story, every time I watch a previous episode and I pick up on all the little hints, I keep yelling at the screen silently. They make it so that Rumple and Peter are like brothers or old friends, so when Peter is revealed to be his father, it doesn't make a lot of sense in context of the story!**

**Leo: Monkey. Calm down.**

**Monkey: (sighs) Sorry. If my readers want the full rant, they can just PM me. Now for the review replies!**

**KillerJill04: **I knew Felix was a fan favorite, so I brought him into the story! And also, he and Pan seemed close, so I gave them a meeting!

**Honeydewmelon56:** Yep, there's Felix! And thanks for calling this the best Pan AU backstory fic you've read so far! That means a lot.

**readandwrite4evernever20: **I did have a lovely day, thank you! And you're welcome for updating.

**AlexandreaLily107: **I've gotten a lot of questions about the doll and my answer is this: YES. THE DOLL WILL BE IMPORTANT. Just be patient, my good readers. And thanks!

**Monkey: Thanks, you guys, for all the support. I really appreciate it. Now to the disclaimer!**

**Leo: Monkey doesn't own anything except for a couple of minor OC's that pop up in this chapter and the plot.**

**Monkey: And don't forget to REVIEW!**

* * *

Two years passed relatively quickly. With the money he earned, James was able to keep his family fed and . . . well, _satisfied_ would be a better term than _happy_. Rumple had also grown up fast. He was talking in no time and walking pretty soon after. James taught him how to read and write by the time he turned two and he was able to pick it up very soon. Malcolm tried to teach Rumple how to play cards, but James managed to stop him.

Felix visited the restaurant every so often. The two boys would share a loaf of bread or something whenever he came by. He even met Rumple plenty of times. The three of them would play different types of games when Felix came by. He even brought a crossbow once, but Rumple wasn't allowed to shoot in fear he may hurt someone or himself.

Even James grew in the past two years. His hair got longer and he got a little taller. Emile still didn't promote him from bus boy because he was so young, but he didn't really mind. It put food on the table, which was more than he could say Malcolm does. He was also learning more and more about surviving in the world from Felix. He taught James how to take care of yourself in a world where no one will care for you. He even offered James to come with him to travel around the kingdom. He even joked that they could be dual rogues. But James declined. He couldn't just leave Rumple, especially in the hands of his incapable father.

Overall, while James loved Rumple and living in the village, he sometimes wished he could escape and just be a kid again. He had to grow up very fast in order to take care of Rumple, so he missed the times he could be at peace. He finally got that one day. Felix was talking about Neverland again and James asked a question that had been on his mind for a long time.

"How do you get to Neverland?" he asked.

Felix swallowed his piece of bread and replied, "I don't know, actually. It's like . . . if you're really lost and alone, then you can go. I'm not sure how it works. It just kind of does."

James sighed. His longing to visit Neverland only grew by the day. The thought of never growing up and always being a kid was too tempting to pass up. Then he couldn't turn into his father: sad, old, and pathetic. At least if he could visit Neverland, he would bring Rumple with him.

Suddenly, Felix snapped his fingers and shouted, "Wait! Now I remember!"

"What?" James asked excitedly.

"You have to think lovely thoughts at night, and then you can dream about going there."

"Is that it?"

"The biggest thing is that you _have_ to believe in Neverland. Otherwise, you can't go there."

"Okay . . . belief. Got it." He stared at his half of the loaf of bread as Felix swallowed the rest of his.

Later that night, after Rumple had fallen asleep, James sat by the window, staring up at the sky. There weren't any clouds, so James could see all the stars. It was such a beautiful sight to see the stars, but there weren't as many as there were at his old village. But that didn't matter since he was only focusing on two stars: a huge star just near the new moon, and the second star to the right. He looked at the second star and squeezed his eyes shut, the two words at the tip of his tongue just waiting for him to say them.

"I believe," he whispered. He looked up at the star again and waited.

He waited for a solid ten minutes for something to happen. Anything. After a while, he realized that nothing was going to happen and laid down in his bed. Another disappointing night. He had hoped and wished and dreamed for something to take him to Neverland and away from his father, but of course, nothing came. He believed in Neverland. He really did.

But, he told himself to do what Felix said: to think lovely thoughts. And as he did, he slowly drifted off into sleep.

* * *

The next thing he knew, he was floating. At least, that's what it felt like. Up was down, left was right, and the sky was suddenly the ground. Nothing felt right and yet it felt exactly as it should be. He wasn't moving anywhere, just floating stationary in one spot, but he didn't know where that was. Then he began moving. It wasn't natural, though. It felt like something was pulling him, but instead of fighting back, he let it pull him. It didn't feel dangerous or something of a threat. It felt . . . comforting. Friendly, almost.

As he was getting pulled, he saw something. Those two stars in the sky were getting bigger. Or . . . he was getting closer. Yes, that was definitely it. He was getting closer to the stars. If he remembered what Felix had said about traveling to Neverland it was "the second star to the right and straight on 'til morning". If this was the case, then how long until morning? Or was time different? It was strange and it didn't feel real, but he just kept getting pulled straight through the star.

Then everything was solid again. His eyes shot open only to find himself on some kind of beach. For a second, he panicked. He shot up into a sitting position and nearly jumped back. Then he looked around. It was morning. It didn't feel like he was asleep for long. There were also trees around him of all different sorts, even some he'd never seen before. But it looked empty. The place didn't feel empty, though. Like there was someone else there, watching him.

He got up and dusted himself off. It definitely didn't feel like a dream. Did he come here for real? Was it some kind of magic? It didn't register in his mind that his clothes felt different. He looked down and saw that his pajamas had disappeared only to be replaced by something else. He was instead wearing a dark green and brown shirt and somewhat tight brown pants, though he had to admit they were comfortable. He was also wearing a light brown cloak and a green scarf. The fabric was soft and very snug, something he'd want to wear on a regular basis. He looked down at his feet and saw he was barefoot, though he didn't mind too much.

He looked at the forest and debated between trying to find a way off the island and going off into the forest to explore. Well, if this was truly a dream, then he should know what this place was like. Especially if this was Neverland. So, he climbed up the hill from the beach and into the depths of the forest.

It was quite vast, almost totally endless. Felix described the island to feel enormous and he wasn't joking. It did feel like he was just a tiny little insect. As he hiked through, that feeling of being watched never left him. He would often look around to try to find anything, only to see nothing. After a while, he looked up at the sky and the sun didn't seem to move from before. It felt like a lot of time had passed while he walked around the island. Eventually, though, he made it to a clearing.

The trees around the clearing were different. They had larger bases and looked hollow. When James knocked on them, he could hear a sound, indicating that they were hollow. He poked his head inside one of them only to see a little boy about his age with a tuft of hazel hair inside, hugging his knees and grinning like he was hiding some sort of secret.

"What—?" he started, but the little boy shushed him, still grinning. Then he pulled James inside the tree.

"Stay quiet, mate," the boy whispered.

"Who are you? And what are you doing?" James whispered back.

"We're planning a prank."

"Okay, but that still doesn't answer my first question."

"You're new here, aren't you?"

"Where exactly is _here_ anyway? Is this Neverland?"

The boy nodded and suddenly James couldn't hold back a grin. He succeeded. There must have been tens of other children on the island from all over the world. Children who were lost and alone in the world, but found a safe haven here in their dreams.

"So, who are you pranking?" James asked the boy. "And, what's your name?"

"I'm Seth," he replied. "And we're trying to catch this one kid who visits, Felix."

"He's here?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

James nodded wordlessly. It was like everything he could ever want was right here in Neverland. This must have been either a blessing of the gods or their cruelest joke yet. He really hoped it was the former rather than the ladder.

Seth grinned though, "Well, then you can help us out. We're going to jump out at him and scare him."

James scoffed, "Is that it? That's kind of weak."

"Well, what else can we do?"

He smirked, "Where are the other boys? I have an idea."

James went from tree to tree, explaining the new plan. When he heard footsteps, he gave out the signal: a bird call his mother taught him. Then all the children came out of the tree stumps and threw all sorts of strange things they came up with using their imaginations. James leaned on one of the trees and watched the strange sight, clutching his stomach in laughter. Once the children were done harassing Felix, the older boy looked to James.

"Oh, ha, ha, very funny," he said sarcastically, now covered in strange goop and something that looked like cake frosting, for some odd reason.

James caught his breath and looked to Felix and said, "Yes, that was."

"So," he said as he wiped goo out of his face. "You finally made it. Welcome to Neverland!"

James smiled. It was the first real smile he was able to muster in a long time and it felt good. For the rest of the time, they all played games and sang songs and explored the island. It felt good to be free of all his responsibilities. He didn't have to deal with having a job, being low on money, his father's drinking and gambling problem, none of it. It all just disappeared into the morning sky.

After a while, James and Seth climbed up the mountain. It was a long hike and tiring, but the both of them were grinning and joking all the way. When they arrived at the top, James could hear the sound of some sort of waterfall, but it was muffled by something. He saw a huge patch of thorn bushes and looked to Seth.

"What kind of plant is this?" he asked.

"I don't know," Seth replied. "But it definitely doesn't look good. Maybe we should go back."

"But if this is a new species of plants, then we should investigate. We could be discoverers. Explorers!"

"James, this isn't like one of your games, someone could get hurt."

"Where's your sense of adventure? Besides, we'll be fine. After all, in the morning, don't we just go back to our normal lives, safe and sound?"

Without waiting for a response, he went to the thorn bushes and took a closer look. There was some sort of dark, ink-like liquid dripping from some of the thorns. He carefully grabbed a piece of a branch that didn't have thorns on it and tried to tear it off. When that didn't work, he closed his eyes and imagined a small knife. He looked at his free hand and saw a simple knife, something you could buy from a local merchant. James then sawed at the thorn branch, breaking it off.

"James, I wouldn't," Seth warned.

"I'll be careful," James replied as he got up. "What is this anyway?"

"Let me take a look." He walked over and looked it over. "The liquid looks like some kind of poison. It looks deadly, we should put it down and go back."

"Well, if it is a deadly poison, there's only one way to find out."

"You aren't serious are you?"

"Of course not." James tossed the branch away like it was in fire. "I'm not that stupid."

"Good," Seth sighed in relief.

"Let's head back before the others get worried."

As the two of them were walking, however, James tripped on a rock and fell forward. He managed to avoid falling on his face, but he stepped on a lower branch of thorns. He jumped back, causing him to land flat on his butt. He pulled his bare foot to take a look at the wound. Little dots of blood began to bloom on the center of his foot, the skin around it turning an irritated red. Almost seconds later, the veins around the pricks turned black. He and Seth shared a worried look and James tried to get up, but a wave of dizziness hit as well as the pain in his foot really settled in and he nearly collapsed if not for Seth who was able to grab him. He helped James to a nearby rock where he leaned on as he felt the poison burning throughout his foot and going up his ankle, towards the calf of his leg.

"Seth," he choked out through the pain. "Go get help. Now."

"I can't just leave you here!" Seth cried.

"You don't know what this is. My best chance is if you run as fast as you can to get help."

It took a minute, but eventually Seth nodded, "Okay. I'll come back for you soon. I promise!"

He reluctantly ran off as fast as his feet could take him, leaving James against the rock. The poison was traveling fast through his veins, up his leg and towards his thigh. Sooner or later, it would reach his heart. Deep down inside, James knew that he was most likely not going to survive. Part of him wanted to whack himself upside the head for being so stupid and careless. The other part of him was too preoccupied with trying to figure out a cure for whatever this strange poison was. In the end, he knew that there was no hope.

As he felt his blood turn into fire, James thought about Rumplestiltskin. He thought about how he never got the chance to say goodbye. Just the thought of leaving him behind with Malcolm was enough to make him furious at himself for being so headstrong. He looked up at the sky to see the sun still hadn't moved. He stared up at it, trying to ignore the pain. As the poison continued to go up through his leg and inching closer to his heart, he still couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't completely alone.

Just when the pain was getting close to unbearable, something moved out of the corner of his eye. He looked around as best as he could.

"Who's there?" he called weakly.

No one responded, but something moved.

"Show yourself . . ."

_Are you trying to be threatening?_ a low voice asked. It sent shivers down James' spine.

"Wh . . . who are you?"

_I am the only resident of Neverland_, the voice said.

"But I thought—"

_Neverland is a place for children to _visit_, not stay. I am the only one who lives here._

Something moved in the shadows and a two glowing yellow eyes could be seen. Then a humanoid shape formed in the darkness of the forest. Suddenly, something flew out. It looked human, but at the same time, it wasn't.

"What are you?" James asked.

_I'm a shadow_, it replied.

"Whose shadow?"

_I don't belong to anyone. And do you really think you should be talking when you're dying?_

"Probably not, but I'm probably a goner anyway. Agh!" He felt something pricking at his heart. It was like a needle was stuck straight into his heart and fire begun to leak in.

_The poison would definitely kill you . . . if you weren't a child._

"What?"

But before the shadow could answer properly, another jolt of pain hammered at his chest. The shadow didn't have a face other than those two gleaming eyes, but it looked as if it was smirking. It flew off and James tried to call out for it, but he couldn't muster up the strength. His energy was slipping away and he could feel his heartbeat slowing down. He leaned back onto the rock again as the pain just increased.

With all his strength gone, he closed his eyes and felt himself drift right into sleep.

* * *

**Monkey: DON'T PANIC. He's not dead! Kind of. Sort of. Ish. Well, he'll live, otherwise I don't have a story. Hope you liked the chapter. I'm thinking I do weekly updates instead of daily ones since I can't write a chapter that quickly. But the next chapter should be up by Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest. So, don't forget to REVIEW in the box below! Have a good day! Drive safely! Don't forget to brush your teeth! I'll shut up now!**


	4. Chapter 3 The First Goodbye

**Monkey: This story is extremely unpopular. I mean, I'm grateful for the people who have read this, but it's kind of depressing to see that so far it's just slowly inching up to 500 views. Maybe I'm being spoilt, but I dunno, it's just uninspiring.**

**Nico: What do you want them *points to the readers* to do about it?**

**Monkey: Spread the word! Tell your friends! Let everyone in the OUAT fanbase about this story, I don't know! I'm doing my best to get people to read it, but so far, nothing has really worked. Which, again, is kind of depressing. Especially when I look at the chapter views and the most recent chapter, which had the most words, hasn't even gotten 70 views yet. That's . . . kind of . . . sad. And really depressing.**

**Leo: Well, it does take a while for a story to kick off, right?**

**Monkey: *sighs* I guess. Anyway, as per usual, here are the review replies from the last chapter.**

**shyangel101: **Well, Malcolm (in this story at least) isn't exactly abusive, he's just extremely neglectful. And, I'd be more okay with the twist, if they did it right, but it felt really rushed to me. Which is kind of sad considering OUAT's really good record of plot twists.

**skylark: **YOU. You keep showing up in my review inbox saying the same thing how this story should have been used for the show. Admittedly I am flattered, but the show can be redeemed if they do the twist correctly in future episodes! In my eyes at least. Still, thanks for the review!

**readandwrite4evernever20: **He wasn't being stupid. He was playing a joke then tripped over a rock, causing him to get poisoned and nearly die. There's a difference.

**KillerJill04:** I kind of figured Felix was a favorite of yours from the fangirling. Still, HERE IS YOUR UPDATE. TAKE IT. *shoves it in your face*

**J: **Well, I'm not exactly "fixing" it since it kind of does make sense in the show. Peter doesn't exactly speak in third person, he just doesn't refer to himself as a father. He wants to deny that he's a father. As for the bragging, that's just Peter being a manipulative little asshole. He does that a lot. But thanks anyway!

**Monkey: As usual, I don't own OUAT and don't forget to REVIEW! And get people to read this story! Please?**

* * *

"JAMES!"

He shot up from his bed, nearly knocking his head on Rumple, who had been trying to shake him up. He could still feel the burning going from his foot right up to his chest. He immediately looked at the foot that had been wounded by the strange thorn bush. There was no open wound, but there were faint, white dots in the same areas as the injuries. There was no mistaking it. Neverland was real, and so was that shadow.

"James, are you alright?" Rumple asked.

He shook his head, managing to think clearly, and looked to Rumple, "I'm fine, why?"

"You were crying."

James felt his cheeks only to find that they were dampened with tears. He looked between his hand and Rumple and gave a gentle smile and replied, "Just a bad dream. Did you need something?"

Rumple nodded urgently and said, "There are some men waiting outside for you."

He frowned and got up. For a moment, he stumbled due to the pain remaining in his foot, but he was able to shake it off. James walked over to the front door and opened it to find his father laying on the porch and a couple men standing before him. They gave James a sympathetic look and almost immediately, he knew what was going on. He looked at his father and glared hatefully at him. Then he ran back inside the house to get all the money Malcolm had earned (conned) over the two years they lived there. When he was done, he brought them back outside and handed it to the men.

"I'm sorry about him," he said.

Before the men could answer, he went back inside. Rumple looked like he wanted to ask what was going on, but James just went back to his room. He got a bag and began packing his things again, knowing they'd probably be moving. With the money he earned on his own, it wouldn't be enough to cover what they needed, and besides, Malcolm would just drag them to a different town or steal all the money James made to pay for his alcohol.

In the middle of his packing, his vision became distorted and he felt something running down his cheek. Tears. He was crying again. He wiped the tears away, but they just kept coming. In truth, he would miss this place. Like he missed his old home, the place he was born in. This was where Rumple had grown up, where he met Felix and Mrs. Douglas and Emile and everyone who had ever been kind to him and Rumple. He didn't want to leave, but it seemed inevitable.

When he finished packing, he laid on the bed, looking up at the ceiling to think. Rumple came inside and sat at the foot of his bed and didn't say anything, which James was grateful for. Just as he suspected, a few hours later, Malcolm came in, finally sober.

"Boys, how would you like to go on a little adventure?" he asked with a small, forced smile.

"You mean we're leaving this place," James said. "No one will give you a job and now we have to go, like before. Is that it?"

That wiped the smile off his face. He looked to James and said, "James . . . I made a mistake. I'll get better, I promise."

"That's what you said last time. Is this going to keep happening? Are we really going to just keep going from town to town? What about us, Papa? What about Rumple? We can't just do this forever."

"And we won't," Malcolm said with determination. He walked over and looked at James directly in the eye. "I promise you, I will get better. Just . . . give me a second chance."

It took him a moment to think about it. He could just be lying through his teeth, like he always does. But then again, he could be telling the truth and he will actually try. James wanted to believe his father, he really did. He sighed. One more chance. Just one, but if he wastes it, then it's over.

James nodded, "Alright."

Malcom gave an apologetic smile and said, "Thank you so much."

Later in the afternoon, it was time to go. They finished packing and were about to leave, but a few people still wanted to say their goodbyes to the two brothers. Emile gave James his final payment from the job and a tight hug. Felix managed a sad smile, but James could tell he was trying not to cry. He said he wouldn't miss the brothers for the life of him, but everyone knew that wasn't true. He gave James a one-armed hug and ruffled Rumple's hair, to which he responded with a pout. James would miss his first real friend. Felix did cheer up James a little by whispering to him that he'd see him in Neverland, which made James grin. Mrs. Douglas, on the other hand, was a mess. Her husband held her tightly as the boys said their goodbyes and she tried not to sob too much as she nearly squeezed them to death in a hug.

She showered the two with all kinds of fruit and bread for the journey. She gave Malcolm a cloak to keep him warm and Rumple a new teddy bear she had hand sewn. The three year old took it with a grin, not fully realizing what it meant. He didn't even know they were _leaving_ for the gods' sakes! She then turned to the ten year old James with a sad smile. She pulled out of her seemingly magical basket of goods a pipe.

"What's that?" James asked.

"It's a pan flute," Mrs. Douglas said. "It was my father's. And before that, it was his mother's. This pan flute has been passed on from generation to generation in my family. There's a story about it that says that it contains powerful magic. But only if the player believes in it."

She handed it to James and continued, "It's said that only certain children can hear its sweet music. Children who feel lost and alone. If they can hear its music, then their fears disappear for a time. I'm counting on you to take good care of this for me. Do you think you can do this?"

James nodded and looked at the pipe in his hands. He felt both honored and terrified at having it. Part of him wanted to brush it off as just a story, but it was hard to get out of his head. Even at a young age, James knew that kind of power could be dangerous. He managed a grateful smile at Mrs. Douglas, knowing that it was an old family heirloom and probably had personal value, so it must have been hard to part ways with it. They shared one last hug, and Mrs. Douglas sent them off.

Rumple asked why they were leaving and James had to break the news to his three year old little brother that they were leaving the town he grew up in. It not only broke Rumple's heart, but James' as well when he had to see his baby brother burst into tears and begin protesting to stay. He tried to run back into the town, but James grabbed him again. Either James was incredibly strong for a ten year old or Rumple was really light for a three year old, because James was able to carry the struggling Rumplestiltskin out of the town with their father in tow. A few stray tears fell from his eyes as they left, but he wiped them away with a spare hand.

Eventually, as they were walking for about an hour, Rumple tired himself out and fell asleep in James' arms. Truthfully, the little toddler was beginning to get heavy now that the adrenaline had faded away. Malcolm offered to carry Rumple for a time, but James refused, still not fully trusting him with the life of his brother. After another couple hours, Malcolm asked again and James reluctantly let his father take the toddler off his hands. Admittedly, it did feel good to relax for a little while.

They kept walking aimlessly for a long, long time until James noticed the sky had changed from a clear blue to several shades of orange, purple, and pink. That could only mean the sun was setting. Malcolm agreed that they should set up camp for the night. James figured they could try to find someone with a map the next day, when they were fully rested. James took Rumple and set him down on his sleeping mat while Malcolm began making a fire. Or, trying to at least. After failing at using the friction of a wooden stick for quite some time, James finally grabbed two rocks and made a spark. Those survival lessons Felix forced him into had actually paid off.

He gently shook Rumple awake so that he could eat their supper. The toddler was reluctant to eat at first, but the loud grumble coming from his stomach changed his mind. They ate silently, the only sound coming from the crackles of the fire. After they finished eating, James set up Rumple's mat for the night. The sun had set quickly, so once Malcolm and Rumple were lying on their mats, James stomped out the fire and lied in his own mat.

Instead of falling asleep quickly, he looked up at the gleaming stars. He contemplated all that occurred in that one day. They had lost everything all over again, all because his father couldn't stop conning people out of their money. If he had just gotten an honest job and not wasted all their money on drinking and gambling, then they wouldn't be camping out in the middle of nowhere. James had tried to avoid speaking with his father throughout their walk and attempted to be somewhat cheerful during dinner for Rumple's sake. But, now that they had fallen asleep and he was alone in the silent, peaceful darkness, he realized that he was completely miserable.

He already missed playing games and stealing food with Felix, the comforting, motherly touch Mrs. Douglas gave, and working into the wee hours of the night alongside Emile. He wanted his bed in that house with the creaky windows and the squeaky floors. He wanted to hear the crickets chirping at night and the crows cawing in the morning. He wanted to be woken up by the light of dawn that only shined on his face through a crack in the shutters on the window. He wanted to fall asleep to the howling wolves in the distance. He wanted his life.

It was only then that he realized that he was crying for the third time that day. He wiped away the tears hurriedly, even though no one was awake or around to see him crying. He flipped himself over so he was facing the horizon. He saw those two stars, side by side in the distance: the gateway to Neverland. He flipped back over and curled up on the mat. As he began to think lovely thoughts, he slowly felt himself drifting into sleep, just that much closer to Neverland.

* * *

When James woke up, he found himself on the beach once again. When he sat up, he looked up and saw that it was night this time instead of day. He looked down and saw he was wearing the same clothes as before and noticed he was still barefoot. Learning from his mistakes from the previous night, he shut his eyes and imagined up a pair of shoes. When he opened his eyes again, his feet were thankfully covered.

He got up and dusted the sand off his clothes. From the corner of his eye, he could see familiar golden eyes boring into him. He turned and just barely saw the outline of the shadow. It was nighttime, so it was unsurprising that the shadow blended in perfectly with the darkness. It floated out of its dark blanket and into the light of the moon for James to properly see.

_So, you return. Alive at that too,_ it said.

"Why?" James asked. "You said that the poison could have killed me, but it didn't because . . ."

_Because you are a child, yes. The poison is the deadliest thing in Neverland, but because children visit here in their dreams, when they wake up, the poison is no longer in effect._

"Why does that poison exist here in Neverland anyway? I thought this place was meant to be a safe haven for children."

_That is true. Neverland is a place for children to visit. However, there must be . . . limits. There are places on the island that even the children are not permitted to visit. So, there are warnings and signs to signal them to turn back. They don't always work, however, as children are naturally curious and sometimes reckless._

James examined the shadow for a moment and asked, "You said you were the only resident of Neverland. That can't possibly be true. Surely there are other things like animals and insects."

_No. I am the only thing that lives here._

"Why?"

_When Neverland was born, I was created along with it to be a guide for children. To watch over them and make sure they did not get harmed by the island's dangers._

"So, you're a guardian."

_You could say that._

James had many more questions to ask, but he heard footsteps coming from behind him. He turned and saw Felix and Seth and all the other children from the previous night. It only took a moment for them to pile up on top of James in a huge hug, with the exception of Felix who was watching, leaning against a tree and peeling an orange.

"We thought you were dead!" Seth cried.

"Yeah!" another boy, Rufio, if James remembered correctly, said. "When Seth ran back, screaming for help, we got scared. He took us up the mountain, saying that you were dying of poison. When we got there, you were gone!"

"Almost gave me a heart attack until Felix pointed out that you probably woke up."

James blinked. He didn't realize how much these kids cared for him, even though they only met him yesterday. He gave a sheepish smile and said, "Well, sorry for scaring you. Now, can you do me a favor and get off? I can't breathe."

The children looked to each other and slowly got off of him. A little girl about four to five years old with light brown hair, Suzie, James thought, walked over and tugged at his shirt. "I'm glad you're okay," she said.

James smiled and ruffled her hair, "I'm glad I'm okay too. Now!" He got up and grinned. "Who's up for a game of hide-and-go-seek? Boys versus girls!"

Everyone cheered at his proclamation, the previous conversation forgotten. After much debate, everyone singled James out to be "it". He pretended to be reluctant about it for the younger kids, but they pleaded and begged him to do it, so he sighed dramatically and began to count. He turned so that he was facing a tree and covered his eyes, not stopping his counting. All the kids scattered across the island to find a place to hide. As they ran, James smiled to himself. The shadow might be the only resident of Neverland, but the island had become his new home. And he promised to himself that one day, he would bring Rumple here.

* * *

**IMPORTANT A/N. PLEASE READ.**

**Monkey: And that's the chapter! Whew, that was surprisingly tiring. At least I was able to get it done for the weekly update.**

**Nico: *clears his throat loudly***

**Monkey: What?**

**Nico: Don't you have something to do?**

**Monkey: Like what? I wrote the chapter, I did the review replies, what am I missing?**

**Nico: You forgot to give credit for the cover.**

**Monkey: OH! Right! I forgot about this in the previous chapters! The cover is NOT mine. I got permission to use it from Demetri-the-Bloodhound here on FF. Their dA account name is mpavao7. Go check them out! They have some great edits and stuff, like the one I used for the cover! And I'm saying "they" because I don't know if they're a "he" or a "she".**

**Leo: There's more.**

**Monkey: Oh, right. VERY, VERY IMPORTANT. I NEED YOUR GUYS' HELP FOR THIS. Okay, so I have the rest of the story completely planned out, but I've hit a dilemma. After this point, I'm not sure if I want to do a time jump to when James is 14 or not. That's why I'm asking you guys. Do you want me to do a time skip to when he's 14 so that I can get to the interesting and fun stuff or do you want me to write out all the details in between? Because I want to have your interests in mind while I'm writing this. But at the same time, if I write out every single detail, I'm going to get bored. And if I get bored with the story, then I produce less quality chapters and you guys will start to get bored. So leave a review letting me know what you want me to do for this.**

**Leo: This is a really long end A/N.**

**Monkey: Yeah. There's a lot of stuff I needed to cover. Anyway, so don't forget to REVIEW! And don't forget to let me know what you want me to do and don't forget to spread the word about the story so that I feel more inspired to write! Hope you liked the chapter! See you soon!**


	5. Chapter 4 Esmeralda Part I

**Monkey: I'm not sure if you guys know this, but I update weekly now. It's relatively irregular as to _what_ day of the week I'll update, but it is weekly. I was just getting that out there because the view count went up a lot since the last update, but the review count was . . . small, to say the least. I just wanted to put that out there. Especially since only ONE person voted! Thanks for that! No, I didn't have a poll up because I forgot to make one. So, yeah. Because only one person voted, I'm doing the time jump anyway.**

**Nico: Monkey doesn't own us, or OUAT, just the plot.**

**Monkey: I don't technically own the new character, I just own the . . . personality? I guess? I even don't know what I own anymore.**

**Leo: Now for the review replies!**

**skylark: **You like the pacing? Um . . . I kind of wrote that chapter pretty inconsistently. The first half was written a week before and the second half was written at two in the morning. I'm amazed it came out as well as it did. But, thanks anyway! And THANK YOU for voting! I will give you a digital cookie for that! *hands cookie*

**KillerJill04: **I updated. Here you go. *shoves the update into your face*

**Honeydewmelon56: **Oh, so James is so innocent and selfless? Wait a few chapters. You'll see what happens. *laughs evilly*

**Monkey: So, REVIEW!**

* * *

Four years is quite a long time when you don't really think about it. Since moving away from that village, James, Rumple, and Malcolm have travelled all over the kingdom, Malcolm's cowardly reputation only growing from there. He kept saying he'd get better and James kept giving him all those second chances. And Malcolm just kept wasting those second chances. James knew that nothing would change, but he still let it happen. Maybe deep down inside, he wished he could believe that his father would get better. He wanted his father to be, well, a father. So he kept giving those chances that he would just waste anyway.

Rumple grew. He grew so fast. He didn't seem to mind that they moved so often. Sometimes, he would cry and it would break James' heart to see the little boy so sad. But Rumple seemed to treat it as an adventure. Maybe that was his way of coping with the constant moves, or maybe he was just too used to it, James didn't know. But one thing was for sure: Rumple didn't know about Malcolm's reputation around the kingdom. Part of James wanted to tell his brother, but another part of him kept him from doing so, the part of him that wanted Rumple to believe that their father was a good man. To a certain extent, at least.

As they journeyed throughout the kingdom, Malcolm did get better with his drinking. That much changed. But it was already too late. He had become too reliant on conning people as a method of income. So James kept doing odd jobs to put food on the table. Some days, he would work at the bookstore, other times he would be a bus boy at a restaurant. Once, he even worked at a tavern. He hated that particular job, but if it was to keep Rumple as happy as possible, he would become an executioner if he needed to.

On the side, however, he would play music on the streets to earn some extra money. It didn't get a lot, but it was spare change for his pocket, in case Rumple wanted to buy something. When he first tried to play the pan flute, nothing extraordinary happened. It let out sound, but nothing that was really special. But, as time passed, he learned how to play it. Rumple loved it whenever he played for him, especially at night when he couldn't fall asleep. And apparently, some villagers enjoyed it enough to toss some spare change to him. Or maybe they just pitied him, who knows.

The one day, something happened that changed everything.

It was just another day. He just finished his work, running errands for the blacksmith and the innkeeper, and he was playing music on the streets. It was a slow day. Not very many people were giving coins, mostly just passing by quickly. It made sense. He heard the circus was in town and most people would rather pay attention to that rather than just a ratty young boy playing the pan flute for spare change.

As he was sitting, a woman walked over. She had long, thick black hair cascading down her shoulders, and dark, sun-kissed skin. She wore a white dress with a brown skirt and a blue sash around the waist. Her shawl was a dark purple color with golden tips, almost shining. Her eyes were the most startling feature: they were so bright and so beautiful, reminding James of emeralds. He just stared into those eyes of hers for a long time until she smiled lightly and waved a hand in front of his face.

"Um . . . are you okay?" she asked. She had a strange accent rolling off the tongue.

James shook his head, snapping himself out of the daze, and replied, "Y-yeah. I'm okay."

"What are you doing?" She gestured to the hat of coins and his pan flute.

"Trying to make some spare change."

She kneeled down and counted the coins then looked back to James, "You aren't doing a very good job at that."

He looked down at the coins in the hat. Five silver coins. That was barely enough to by a _slice_ of bread, let alone a teddy bear Rumple was eyeing (no matter how much he denied it). The woman gave a kind smile and said, "Let me help. Go on and play a song."

James blinked for a moment and began playing a jovial tune, a song he remembered being played at a festival in one of the towns he lived in before. The woman began to dance, her bare feet pitter-pattering on the ground in a rhythmic pattern. She was so graceful and lovely, it was hard for James to focus on playing the song. More and more people began to notice the both of them and someone actually picked up the hat and began to pass it around to put change into it. They clapped to the beat as the woman continued to dance.

Eventually, James was nearing the end of the song and the woman's dancing became more rapid as the speed of the song increased. At the end of the song, the woman stopped at just the right moment. Everyone applauded for her, even James. The last person in the circle gave the woman the hat and she handed it to James. As the crowd scattered, James counted all the coins. There was enough to buy the teddy bear AND dinner!

He looked up to the woman with a huge grin, "Thank you so much!"

She smiled warmly, "No problem, kid."

"Where did you learn to dance like that?"

"I'm self-taught. Oh! Are you going to the circus show?"

That killed his smile. He really wanted to go with Rumple, but they didn't have the money to pay for both their tickets. Maybe if they used the change leftover from what James earned that day, it would be enough to pay for _one_ ticket, but not two. He looked back to the woman and shook his head sadly. She gave him a warm smile regardless.

"Well, I'm sure I can get you a ticket," she said.

"Thank you, I appreciate that," James replied. "But, I don't want to burden you. Besides, I wanted to go with my little brother."

"It's no bother, really. I can get you two tickets. Just come to the tents to see the show."

"Really?"

She nodded and put her hand over her heart and said, "Cross my heart."

His smile returned at that. The woman began to walk off when James stopped her, "I never got your name."

She turned back and smiled brightly, "I'm Esmeralda."

"I'm James. It's nice to meet you."

"You too, kid. I'll see you tonight at the circus, right?"

James nodded and Esmeralda waved goodbye as she left. He looked down at the hat of coins and felt his cheeks burning. It wasn't just that she was pretty and a good dancer, she was kind to him. That was something that hadn't happened in a very long time. As he grew older, people began to grow suspicious of him due to his age and situation. They probably assumed he would start pickpocketing people to pay for food or something like that. Of course, he would never turn into a thief if he could help it, but that didn't stop people from talking.

Esmeralda was different. She helped him, even though he was a complete stranger to her and then offered to get him tickets to the circus. He couldn't remember the last time a stranger had treated him with such kindness. It was nice. He walked to the market and bought the teddy bear as well as some food they needed. When he arrived home, Rumple ran over to greet him with a wide smile.

Rumple had become a healthy, energetic child, always smiling and always wanting to help his older brother. James had a feeling Rumple knew more about James' problems than he was letting on, but the boy never said anything.

"Hey, Rumple," James said. "I brought you a gift."

"I told you before, I don't need anything," Rumple said.

"I know, but I _wanted_ to get this for you."

He pulled out the teddy bear. It was relatively small, about the size of a loaf of bread, with button eyes sewed on and a bright blue bow tied around its neck. James handed it to Rumple, who took it with a huge grin.

"Thank you, thank—!" Rumple started, but then seemed to remember that he claimed not to like the bear in the first place. He calmed himself down and made himself look cool. "I mean, thanks. I appreciate it."

James could only smirk at that as he said, "I'm sure you do. Anyway, I'm going to make us lunch. Bread and cheese okay?"

He nodded and James went into the kitchen to cut up the bread. Rumple tagged along, still holding the little bear. James smiled, knowing that his brother wouldn't be letting it go any time soon.

* * *

Later that night, James told Rumple that they were going to the circus and he got excited. Rumple dragged him out of the house and to the tents that were set up. They were made of messy patchwork of all sorts of different colors, but James loved it regardless. There was a ticket checker at the front and James looked around for Esmeralda so she could give them their tickets. Before he could see her, though, the man looked to the two brothers.

"Tickets?" he asked in a monotone voice, showing how he was too used to being there all evening.

"Um . . ." James started. "We're waiting for a friend. She has our tickets."

The man examined the two boys, which James found kind of weird and a little creepy, and then he finally said, "You that James kid?"

James nodded wordlessly as a response. The man gestured inside, "Go on in. Esmeralda got you two front row seats."

James blinked, but led an excited Rumple inside anyway. They took their seats at the very front and waited for the show to begin. It didn't take long for the ringleader to appear out of a large puff of purple smoke. He was wearing a strange, dark red cloak with golden outlines and had a bald head and an insane smile on his face. The crowd went nuts when he appeared and James tried to smile, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the man was a little mad.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he shouted, his booming voice cutting through the excitement of the audience. "Boys and girls of all ages! Welcome to a new realm where the strange and unexpected is all you will see! Mystical beings, alluring secrets, and magic of all sorts, this is the circus!"

From there, the show began. There were so many oddities and strange performances that they all became a blur in James' eyes. He could vaguely remember a clown juggling knives and a man who ate them. He couldn't tell, but he could see Rumple was enjoying the show. The boy had even raised his hand as high as he could to volunteer to be the magician's assistant. He wasn't picked, though, to which Rumple was quite disappointed. His mood lifted, however, when the magician gave the two brothers two roses: a white one for Rumple and a yellow one for James.

Soon, the final performance was on the rise. The ringleader appeared again and said, "And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The jewel of the circus, the beauty of the kingdom will be here just for you! Come one, come all and witness the lovely la Esmeralda dance!"

With that, he threw down something, causing there to be a puff of red smoke. When it cleared, there was Esmeralda, wearing a long, flowing red dress. She danced for the audience to watch in awe at her graceful moves. James, on the other hand, couldn't believe his eyes. The very same woman who had helped him earlier that very same day was part of the circus. Then it made sense how she got him and Rumple inside to witness the show.

Speaking of Rumple, he tugged at James' sleeve. He leaned in to hear what he had to say and Rumple whispered, "She's really pretty."

James could only nod at that. There was no doubt that Esmeralda was most definitely the jewel of the circus. She spotted James in the audience and winked, causing his face to get hot. At the end, she grabbed a nearby spear (why that was there, James had no idea) and lodged it into the ground, twirling around it, giving a final nod to the audience.

The ringmaster said his final words, and the audience disbanded. Rumple and James got up from their seats and Esmeralda walked over to them, panting slightly from dancing.

"Glad you two you could make it," she said. "How'd you like the show?"

"It was amazing!" Rumple cried energetically. "You were really, really good!"

Esmeralda chuckled as she lowered herself down so she was at his eye level, "Thank you. I don't think I got your name."

"I'm Rumplestiltskin, but most people just call me Rumple for short."

"That's a funny name." She tapped Rumple on the nose lightly and he giggled in response. She looked to James. "And how did you like it?"

"It was good," he replied. "Really good."

Rumple looked to him with concern and confusion and asked, "James? Are you okay? You're really red."

Esmeralda covered her mouth, trying to hold back laughter as James felt his face get even redder than before. "I'm fine! We should get going, it's late and you need your rest."

"Awwwwwww, but I'm fine, James!"

She chuckled a bit and ruffled Rumple's hair and said, "Your brother is right, you need sleep. But I'll tell you what; you and your brother can come visit me tomorrow afternoon at the front of the tent. I can show you some neat tricks. Okay?"

Rumple beamed and nodded with enthusiasm. James looked to Esmeralda with a grateful look in his eyes, "I swear, he has more energy than he needs."

She got up from her knees and dusted her hands off, "It's healthy, so at least you don't have to worry about that."

"Thank you, though, for letting us come. Ever since Rumple heard about the circus being in town, he's wanted to come."

"Like I said earlier, it's no bother at all. I was happy to invite you both."

"Well, we should get going."

"Yes, I need to go too. So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

It took a moment for James to respond, but in the end he nodded. Esmeralda grinned, "Great! I'll see you then."

With that, the three of them parted ways. James and Rumple went home and, luckily, Malcolm was already asleep. James tucked his little brother into bed and went back to his room. He found an old wooden vase someone from a previous village had given to him as a gift. He went back downstairs and filled it with water, placing the yellow rose inside. He went back up and placed the vase on the nightstand next to his bed and climbed into the bed.

He curled up and slowly found himself falling asleep. He didn't bother trying to fight it off, eventually falling into a dreamless sleep. And for once, in a very long time, he didn't need to go to Neverland. He was happy enough right there, knowing he would see Esmeralda again the very next day.

* * *

**Monkey: Whew, got that done just at midnight. I'm quite proud of myself. Sorry that it's short, but I was more concerned with getting it done. I promise the next chapter will be longer.**

**Notes of the chapter:**

**1) No, Frollo will not be part of the story. Yes, Phoebus will (though later). And yes, James is technically Quasimodo.**

**2) You could interpret Esmeralda and James' first meeting plus the stuff that happened at the circus to be love at first sight or James' hormones reacting. Let's go the Disney route and pretend this is love =P**

**3) For Esmeralda's dress in the circus show, it's pretty much the same one from the movie. Yes, I'm lazy, shut up.**

**Monkey: Hope you guys liked the chapter! I have SO many ideas for the Esmeralda arc. Don't forget to leave a REVIEW and I'll see you guys next week!**


	6. Notice: I AM SO SORRY!

**I AM SO SORRY!**

I did my darnest to be proactive and update this story regularly, but then the last week of school came up and I wasn't able to work on it because I had to do a bunch of work and studying. The reason why I was updating regularly was because I had to latch onto my inspiration long enough to finish each chapter. But because of that break, my inspiration took it's opportunity and escaped. So right now, I'm trying to hunt it back down, but the new chapter won't be out for a while until then. I AM SO FREAKING SORRY!

I was doing my best to keep this story up to date because I was so excited and stuff and I was hoping that for once, I would _finish_ something. But then this happened and I feel horrible for it.

But, all hope isn't gone. Apparently new inspiration decided to plant itself into my brain because I have another Once Upon a Time story coming out soon. This one is different since it doesn't have the canon characters, at least, not as the main characters. It's hard to explain, but you'll know it when you see it. It should be up by tonight at the earliest and tomorrow at the latest. It's called The Unknown Stories, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Again, I am so sorry. I have not given up on this story though! It's one of my best thus far and I REALLY want to finish it because I have so many plans! But, the new chapter and the continuation of the Esmeralda arc won't be coming for quite a while and, again, I'm really sorry for that.

I'll see you as soon as possible on my part. Until then, stay strong and I won't blame you if you show up at my house with sharp objects to stab me with.

~Monkey


End file.
